Chapter Text
Anakin was lucky that he got out the way he did, holding his daughter in one hand and threepio holding his son as they, along with Artoo hurried onto a tie fighter with stormtroopers running after them. Anakin used the force to slam the door shut, Artoo screamed as he rolled by and Threepio was fussing over Luke and the entire situation as a whole. Anakin ignored him and sat in the pilot’s seat and once he was far away enough, with two other tie fighters chasing him, he took his chance to go into hyperspace. He had to stop in a system so he could take out the tracking system that was in place on most tie fighters. He held Leia in his other arm for the whole time and she didn’t make a sound, just stared at him with wide eyes that reminded him of Padme.
They stayed idle in space for awhile, Anakin unsure of where to go, his grief overwhelmed him and it had just hit him all at once what he had done. He had stolen his children back from Obi-Wan, destroying his ship in the process and leaving it to burn, not caring to check if his old friend was still alive. He wasn’t sure why he had taken the droids with him. Artoo was stubborn, wouldn’t leave his side and Threepio went wherever Artoo went.
It was dangerous, he was sure the empire had his last location of where he jumped to and so he jumped into another system. He had to avoid tatooine, he figured that was the first place they would look for them.
He wanted to take the children to Naboo, to Padme’s family, but Palpatine would look there too. Anakin cursed, feeling the anger boil inside of him and then suddenly, Leia started to whine in the crook of his arm and his feelings melted away. He hushed her and patted her back, luckily it calmed her. The children needed supplies, he needed a different ship. He had one planet in mind that he was sure no one would find them and so Anakin plugged in the coordinates and jumped to hyperspace again.
The planet he chose was green, it looked like Naboo which Threepio commented on and Artoo beeped as if he agreed.
He hid the tie fighter inside of a cave, where he was sure no life forms would find it. There was a small town nearby and he took the children and the droids towards it. He had traded Leia with Threepio, he held Luke in his flesh arm, his other hand free to quickly grab his lightsaber attached to his belt if he needed it for any reason.
His hood was pulled over his head as he walked in, a few people threw him worried glances, and whispered to each other but when they saw Luke, they softly smiled and looked away.
He stopped at a stall that looked like it carried clothing.
“do you have anything for infants?” He asked the attendant and she hummed and then nodded. She walked away and laid down an outfit.
“2 credits.” She spoke, and Anakin, without counting dug ten ten out of his pocket and threw it onto the counter.
“I need a second one.” He tilted his head back towards Threepio and Leia. She looked back up at him with a pitiful expression.
“No mother?” She asked, Anakin froze wanting to kill her on the spot but then he simply shook his head.
“poor things.” She said, she nodded past him. “There’s a store ahead that carries baskets and things for children.” She got a bag and put the outfits inside and handed it over to Anakin.
“Thank you.” Anakin automatically said taking it from her without waking Luke, who had nodded off to sleep on his shoulder not long ago. He slung the bag over his other shoulder and sighed. “We need to find somewhere to stay.” He told Threepio, handing the robot the bag.
“Oh, yes. I’m sure there’s a hotel somewhere.” However, Anakin rolled his eyes, he doubted that considering the small town was.
It took them a while to get settled in somewhere. Luckily, a kind old woman took pity on him and let them inside of her home. She saw them sitting outside a restaurant, the droids underneath an umbrella to avoid getting wet and Anakin held both his children in his arms. He was hesitant at first, but she just took Luke in her arms and told him to follow her.
He wanted to snatch his son back but with his arm half asleep and Leia still in the other, he honestly had to admit he was exhausted and didn’t have the energy to fight anyone.
The room she left them in was nice, it had a single bed and with the two baskets Anakin bought, the place would have to do for now. The old woman walked around her house, beginning to cook something and the droids waited with her while Anakin set everything up in the room. He wasn’t even sure what all he had bought, but he didn’t care as long as the children would use it at some point.
He placed Leia into her basket and then walked out of the room to grab Luke from her. However, he leaned against the doorframe and watched as she cooked with one hand and Luke tucked into the other.
“Thank you.” He managed, she didn’t seem to hear him and just continued to hum something.
“sit, sit. You look tired.” She said, slightly turning to face him. Anakin nodded and then sat in the chair. He held his arms out for his son and she deposited him into them. The boy looked up at him with large eyes and gave a small yawn and Anakin couldn’t help but smile sadly at him as he took a hold of his father’s gloved finger.
The woman set a bowl down in front of him and Anakin simply stared at it.
“Sir, I believe I am going to power down now, please wake me if you need anything.” Threepio said and Anakin gave a nod and the droid sat in a corner and turned himself off.
The woman left the room, Anakin didn’t care much where she went but now he was alone with his son and his thoughts. He let out a heavy sigh. Padme was dead and Obi-Wan was probably captured by Palpatine by now. However, Anakin couldn’t feel a force presence even as he tried to reach out to him. Anakin wanted nothing more than to die but he refused to abandon his children. They were all he had left of Padme and that was more than enough reason to live.
He picked up the spoon and began to eat, he needed to figure out what he should feed Luke and Leia.
***
It had been a few weeks and the old woman had still let him stay with her, even after his amount of protests that he should find somewhere else and the empire was looking for him. She was harboring a fugitive and it was dangerous.
However, the children were what made her want to help him. Eventually, they gathered enough supplies for the twins and Anakin had gotten into a routine of caring for them. It was a nightmare, neither of them wanted to sleep at the same time and so Anakin slept with one of them while the old woman or Threepio took care of the other.
Months passed, the twins were bigger, Anakin trusted the old woman-who’s name he never bothered to learn, with taking care of them. He went out to the market to buy supplies without having to worry over them for too long. Artoo normally followed him on these trips.
It had been a full year eventually, the old woman insisted they celebrate the twins birthdays even though Anakin wanted nothing more than to lock himself away and drown himself in alcohol on the day of Padme’s death.
However, Anakin decided to humor her and the woman sang happy birthday to them and made Anakin wear a hat while Threepio took holo pictures. He only wished he had Padme and Obi Wan there.
“it’s important for them to have this memory.” the woman told him with a smile and Anakin rolled his eyes as he balanced the children in his lap. He knew she was right.
Two more years passed, Luke and Leia had begun walking, Leia spoke more baby nonsense than her brother but Luke used the force more often than her. Anakin wondered when he should start training them, he remembered how young he had been when he was found on Tatooine and started his jedi training.
He was walking in the market, having taken Leia with him in a hovercraft. They were supposed to find something to make for dinner when Anakin froze, seeing two stormtroopers questioning a storekeeper. He immediately took leia from her craft, deciding to abandon it and decided to hurry back home.
“da?” She murmured into his ear, he ignored her and began to rush.
“Hey!” He heard a stormtrooper call and then broke into a run. He hopped over vases and cursed himself for not bringing his lightsaber. He knew it was a matter of time before they found him. He quickly looked back and three stormtroopers were running after him, using the force he pushed one back, making them tumble into their friend. The other was still chasing him and Anakin grabbed a pole, and swung around and kicked the stormtrooper in the stomach. Leia had let out a squeal and the trooper’s head hit the ground hard enough to knock him out.
Anakin ran back to the house and froze in front of it when he saw the smoke.
“no, no, no, no.” He whispered, he heard a scream and ran inside. Luke was on the ground, wailing loudly at a stormtrooper who had a gun trained on him. They had shot down the old woman, it seemed like the woman had used her last moments to take one of them out and Anakin let his anger take a hold of him, throwing his hand out and lifting one of them into the air, he closed his fist and the trooper began to choke. Anakin wanted it to suffer.
“Who sent you?” He asked, but the trooper didn’t answer and Anakin threw him into the wall. His children were both screaming.
“Threepio!” He shouted, and there was no word from the droid. Anakin swept through the house, still holding onto Leia who had tears running down her face.
“Threepio!” He screamed the droid’s name again and he heard something clatter and the droid speaking. He threw open a door with the force to find the droid had been scrambling to stand up.
“Master Anakin, I was just charging-is something wrong?” He asked, taking one look at Leia’s state and the furious look on Anakin’s face.
“We must leave. Pack our things.” He said, and if the droid were human, Anakin knows he would have protested but he did as he was told.
“Yes, sir.” The droid hurriedly said and looked around for the suitcases. Anakin left the room and went to the kitchen and stared at the scene before him. He walked over and bent down to reach for his son, Luke buried his face into his father’s chest and Anakin stood back up. He looked down at the woman, she was laying in a pile of her own blood. He sighed, they wouldn’t have time to bury her. He wasn’t sure where they were to find another ship, he wasn’t happy with the idea of taking toddlers onto the tie fighter he had abandoned.
He tried his best to calm his anger, not wanting to upset Luke and Leia even more. They were crying together and Anakin rested his chin on top of Luke’s head, trying his best to calm him.
Threepio came into the room then.
“Master Anakin, I have finished-Oh, dear.” He said as soon as he saw the woman’s body. Anakin pulled away from his children and made them stand. He put his hands on Leia’s shoulders. She stared at him with big brown eyes that had definitely come from Padme.
“Leia, can you walk with Threepio, please?” He asked, placing a hand on her cheek. Anakin softly pushed her towards the droid and Leia wrapped her arm around the metal leg.
“hello, Leia.” Threepio said, Leia looked up at him and said nothing.
Luke was gazing at the ground, his eyes red.
“Luke.” Anakin said, his son didn’t look at him. The children were just beginning to talk, repeating words and sometimes sentences that Anakin and their caretaker and Threepio said. So Anakin knew they understood him.
“Luke.” He said again and Luke finally looked up at him. “are you okay?” Luke took a moment but then nodded. Luke barely spoke, but he understood things better than his sister did. He was a fast learner and Anakin knew it must be the force.
“We have to go,” He stood up and then picked Luke up and placed him on his hip. His son still sniffled.
Anakin took his children and the droids to the abandoned tie fighter, flying with them would be a challenge but Anakin would have to manage.
He thought of Tatooine once more, it wouldn’t be safe to raise his children there but they would’ve already searched there for him by now and been long gone. However, Anakin looked at his miserable children and made a decision.